Android Captivate and Vibrant get reviewed -- the competition

AT&T and T-Mobile bring the Android competition with the Samsung Galaxy S-class Captivate and Vibrant

Phil Nickinson, my counterpart over at sibling site Android Central has just posted his AT&T Android Captivate review and T-Mobile Android Vibrant review, the latest, greatest US GSM competition to our own iPhone 4. They're both Galaxy S-class devices, but one of the strengths of Android is the ability for manufacturers like Samsung and carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile (and Verizon and Sprint when their versions launch) to modify and customize the hardware and software to make their devices distinct.

Ally already posted her thoughts on the AT&T Captivate vs. iPhone 4, so if you're trying to decide between the two, or between them and the T-Mobile Vibrant, give Phil's a read to and them come back here and let us know what you think.

Reader comments

Android Captivate and Vibrant get reviewed -- the competition

I got me a Captivate...After using the iPhone for 3 years I think that this is the beginning of the end for the iPhone sorry to say. Like I said yesterday, I need to have an "iPhone" like experience for my phone and the Android now simulates (copies?) the iPhone so much so that I don't miss my iPhone. In fact, Google improved on the notification system of the iPhone that Android is the better OS at this point. Case in point, there are 10 devs working with me in my office and all of us, ALL 10 of us had iPhones. Today, 7 are on Android, and the other three are considering switching. Where do you think developers will be in a couple of years?

Omg, seven people(developers no less!, & possibly 3 more) went to droid! The iPhone is doomed! Never mind the ever-increasing amount of iPhone users and developers, it's all over! Hey, droid has 50K apps! Alot are spam, but that's a minor detail...it's quantity not quality and we've got 22% of the App Stores' quantity! Steve will be ordering a hit on Google pretty soon. iPhone is officially dead!!!

Ok the captivate is a great phone (which I want very badly can't wait to switch) but so is the iPhone. @Dantv there will be no iPhone killer... It just doesn't work that way, there will always be people that prefer one over the other, but anyways grats on the captivate :)

@chip chipperson, there is a new Android device everyday because Android is a great OS. It has diversity, is customizable, imho the only OS that can compete with iOS. Where the iPhone is standardized and all units are the same, Android has options to fit many types of user.
Sure it may be leading to the dreaded fragmentation, but its still has its perks. Almost every company has its own UI. So not only do you get hardware but software choices too.
But respect to iPhone for making the industry what it is today even if S.Jobs is evil lol.

I hate to say it because the notifications are lousy. But we won't see something major like that until next summer. That's a 5.0 increase. They will have a press conference and Steve will say we now have notifications like it's something we didn't need until 2011. What happened to the 100 user features by the way?

@Desmond,
Those 100 user features that you are referring to were API changes to allow developers more flexibility when coding their apps and offering features. One biggie there is the Calendar API which opens the iCal database to applications. So, programs like Zagat can insert Restaurant info into your calendar when you make a reservation. I am sure movie apps will incorporate inserting movie times when a ticket is purchased, etc.

@mark, android is plastic toys that are helping to make your phone experience better through competition. How you cut the a**hole better than the world mentality. Your newest update included folders, wallpaper, and "multitasking" which everyone else could do for years, and new api's(that is actually good).
Back off fanboy and enjoy the competition. If it wasn't for all the others you would still be lacking mms. :-P

I have had the iphone since 3g. The 4G is the first time I can honestly say I am not happy. Besides the well known antenna gate one issue not getting major headlines is the bluetooth connectivity problem. Used Pantronics Discovery 2 years with 3g no problems bit with 4g people tell me I come out across muffled and like I'm in a tin can. My buddy has same problem with his. Went to apple forums multiple threads same issue. Called apple support and they said they are aware of it. It seems like Apple's QA going down the toilet. First time ever I started reading android's website news every day. Captivate does not have a front face camera or a led flash on the back. Im not taking a step back but if EVO was on ATT network I would have switched already. Hoping ATT will give out another upgrade option for the next iphone by then new batch of Android phones and I will probably take the plunge.

Writing this on my Captivate which replaces my old iphone 3g. After 2 weeks of use, I'd say that for anyone with tech skills > limited Android is the way to go. Of course this leaves a huge market to iOS, which is perfectly ok. To each his own!